The price of petrol in India is going through the roof. Reason? Global oil prices are at all-time high levels (about $130 per barrel) and the nation's public sector oil companies can no longer sustain the heavy subsidy on petroleum products.

So the government had no other way out but to increase the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and kerosene and align them with global oil costs.

In dollar terms, the cost of petrol in India is now around $1.32 (Rs 56) per litre. India's petrol prices are thus higher than those in the United States or Russia or China or Pakistan, as almost 50 per cent of the price of petrol consists of duties and taxes (customs, excise and sales tax).

So which are the nations where the price of petrol is highest and lowest in the world? Note: This is not a comparison of petrol prices in India and other nations. For the sake of simplicity, the dollar price (and the equivalent amount in rupee terms) of petrol has been listed. Read on. . .

1$ = Rs 42.275

Image: Indian army personnel ride back after a ceremony to pay homage to the Indian soldiers who fought in the 1971 war against Pakistan. | Photograph: Manpreet Romana/AFP/Getty Images